George

Dennis was doing the least saving of anyone IIRC which makes it even more incredible

While I was rooting for Dennis to win, it was one of those moves where I can't really do anything but doff my cap to a brilliant piece of opportunism

This race also further confirmed my feelings that Rowland, Cassidy and Dennis are the clear top three drivers in FE currently

Fucking hell what a battle in the FE

How on earth Rowland repassed Dennis with no attack mode I have no idea

I think it sometimes has the subtitle "Life on the Limit", which can help a bit

Seems a very strong broadcast team. George Henneberry doing this presumably in addition to Indycar is interesting. I presume she'll be doing the same pitlane reporter job she does there.

Mel Kenyon in his 1972 AAR Eagle 72 at the 1974 Indianapolis 500, sporting a steel roll cage over the cockpit

Mel Kenyon in his 1972 AAR Eagle 72 at the 1974 Indianapolis 500, sporting a steel roll cage over the cockpit

TIL F1 proposed introducing a cockpit roll cage very similar in function to the Halo all the way back in 1977

Mel Kenyon also fitted a similar such contraption on his Eagle 72 at the 1974 Indy 500

Lovely work from the Williams crew there to get Sainz out ahead of Antonelli

Now a net second

I actually started work on this a fair bit before Peter Wright passed away, so hopefully I've done his role in its story justice

I'd also intended for this to cover the entire history of active suspension including its downfall in 1993/94, but that would have been far too long

Active Suspension — A Decade-Long Journey from Gimmick to Game-Changer Active suspension is one of F1’s most revered and dominant technologies. However, few are aware of the technology’s inauspicious origins…

Took a fair old while, but my latest F1 history article is out now!

It chronicles the rise of active suspension, and its journey from an overlooked fringe technology, to perhaps the defining innovation of the early 1990s

medium.com/formula-one-...

Ahh that explains Larsen's crash a bit more. It's still on her due to tapping the wall, but much more understandable than losing it so dramatically at a seemingly innocuous corner

Yeah this has uhhh, not been the best advertisement for F1A driving standards

Man I was just writing a comment about how Larsen was living up to the Nordic driver tradition of being dynamite in mixed/wet conditions when that happened

Have to feel for Weug. What a horrid way for it all to come to an end

Rather reminiscent of Mugello 2020 I'd say

This is missing Alain Prost's McLaren titles isn't it? (with the caveat like Hill and Andretti that it wasn't his first stint with them)

IMO it was the perfecting of carbon brakes in the mid 80s that really killed F1 around places like Monaco

IK FE is pivoting away from street tracks, but I'm sure we'll still be visiting some, and hopefully the longer braking distances brought about by LiCo will prevent true F1-style processions

I share your concerns over the impact of the new car on racing, but my hope is that with lift and coast being an integral part of FE, the braking distances will remain long enough to still allow for some solid overtaking

A 1974 JPS Lotus 72E, as driven by Ronnie Peterson

Racing helmets of Jackie Stewart and Jody Scheckter

Alain Prost's 1993 race helmet

Rear wing endplate of Nigel Mansell's 1992 Williams FW14B

Finally paid a visit to the Silverstone museum

Listing on Oxfam.com for the Autocourse 1987-1988 Annual. In the "You may also like" section there is a listing for "The Illustrated Book of Sapphic Sex".

Ok folks, own up

Which one of you has been looking at the Autocourse annuals on Oxfam to get this in the recommended section for it?

We know the Honda F2 engine also mentioned was real, and began racing in 1980, and from what this brief article says it sounds like the Toyota F1 engine was even further along in development

I haven't been able to find anything else about it though

Do chime in with info if you have any!

Extract from Autosport, 12th April 1979: Headline: "Toyota F1 Turbo?" Body Text: There are some interesting rumours circulating in the Far East at the moment which would suggest that two major Japanese manufacturers are seriously contemplating full works involvement in a single seater engine programmes. Toyota, we hear, already have a Formula 1 turbocharged engine running in test conditions in Japan, while Honda are due to be building a Formula 2 engine, which should be seen testing in Europe before very long."

This sure would have been interesting (this is from early 1979 for context, so around about the time Ferrari first started working on their turbo)

I wonder what became of the rumoured Toyota engine prototype🤔

That change effectively stood until 2014 when the MGU-K once again enabled drivers to restart their engines from inside the cockpit (I don't believe the OG KERS could be used to restart the engine, though I could be misremembering)

Article 8 Subsection 1 of the 1982 Formula 1 Technical Regulations, stipulating that "A starter and source of energy capable of starting the engine at least twice and operable by the driver when seated normally in the car must carried aboard the car throughout the event." Document Available From: https://historicdb.fia.com/sites/default/files/regulations/1728482072/formula_one_techical_regulations_1982.pdf

Article 8 of the 1983 Formula 1 Technical Regulations. The stipulation for an onboard starter has been removed, with the clause now simply stating that "A supplementary device temporarily connected to the car may be used to start the engine both on the grid and in the pits." Document Available From: https://historicdb.fia.com/sites/default/files/regulations/1728482560/formula_one_techical_regulations_1983.pdf

One of the lesser-known elements of the 1983 F1 rule changes was that they made it legal for an F1 car to not have any way of restarting the engine onboard for the first time since 1961 (when they'd been made mandatory).

Most teams ditched them quite quickly to save weight

John Watson in the new Penske PC4 at the car's launch

John Watson driving the new Penske PC4 at the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix

The Penske PC4 in the pits at the 1976 Swedish Grand Prix

The Penske PC4 at its first public testing appearance at Silverstone, April 1976

I find the launch-spec Penske PC4 quite interesting

The full-width Ferrari style front wing and flick-ups ahead of the rear wheels were both ditched after the car's debut at Anderstorp, and the wheelbase was also lengthened by 7 inches before its second outing in France

Nato's been re-signed for another season by Nissan, hasn't he?

Not quite the emotional rollercoaster of our last podium in Baku, but I'll take it every day of the week

Lovely to see Carlos show the class we know he has. Hopefully this marks a turning point for him at Williams

Ahh fuck. Verstappen is just too good.

P fucking 2 though!!!

Ferrari fans are experiencing despair, yes. but much more dangerously to us, Williams fans are experiencing hope

COULD THIS BE A FUCKING POLE, BOYS???!!!

Quote from Autosport's 1981 Italian Grand Prix Report: "It was not like that with Reuteman. With less horsepower than the Renault, and consequently less rear wing, the Argentine was working on inspiration. Through the Parabolica the Williams handled superbly, giving its driver complete confidence, and Carlos went with it all the way, getting onto the throttle yards before most people, and staying on it all the way through, using the last inch on exit. His time eventually split the Renaults, and was more than a clear second quicker than any other Cosworth car. A shattering performance. "Arnoux's time." murmured Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday evening, "is pretty impressive, huh? But Carlos... Jesus, that's incredible!""

He was indeed (from Autosport, 17th September 1981)

The McLaren M26 at its second race (the 1977 Spanish Grand Prix) featuring a smooth nose (left), and again later in the season featuring an additional nose-mounted oil cooler (right).

The Brabham BT53 in early 1984, featuring a fully enclosed nose (left) and then again later in the season with a ducted nose for enhanced cooling (right)

The 1976 Lotus 77, pictured in early season on the left with a fully flush nose, and later in the year at Zandvoort on the right with a ducted nose.

The Tyrrell P34 in 1976. On the left the specification raced by both drivers for most of the year with a rounded nose containing two small NACA ducts. On the right, a specification trialled throughout the year and raced by Jody Scheckter at Zandvoort, featuring a large central oil cooler duct in addition to the small twin NACA ducts.

We need to bring back F1 cars randomly sprouting extra radiators in the nose mid-season

I swear, there was a time when bunging an extra radiator in was seemingly the default reaction of designers to a car proving troublesome

TBF, most of these did indeed get better after the addition